Of course Faerghus is shaped by its military. Dimitri and I learned to wield weapons before we learned to read or write. It's a warrior culture, and I'm glad for that. As far as I'm concerned, the Knights of Seiros and their peerless skill are the primary benefits of the Church. And if the Church itself didn't at least partially agree, they wouldn't dispatch them to enforce their doctrines so readily, and they wouldn't ensure that only the central Church is allowed to have a standing army.

[Felix frowns.] Doesn't it seem like the Church would take measures to make sure that didn't happen? They know as well as we do that Crests are dying out, and that without Crested nobility, a lot of their excuses for meddling in governance go away. I don't know what those measures would be, though.